Chicago—This afternoon, in a wake of national interest in the case, the Thomas More Society secured a dismissal of all charges against the first arrestee under the city’s “bubble zone” ordinance, which prevents certain types of picketing activity outside local abortion clinics. Joseph Holland, a Northwestern University graduate student, was arrested outside Planned Parenthood’s Near North Side facility on July 3 after the facility’s staff called the police and claimed he violated the ordinance by praying on the public sidewalk.

“We are pleased that the City of Chicago has dismissed these false and baseless charges against Joe Holland,” said Peter Breen, Thomas More Society executive director and legal counsel. “The First Amendment protects prayer on a public sidewalk in Chicago the same as in any other city in the country. We hope that the city will cease the suppression of pro-life speech under the ‘bubble zone’ ordinance and dismiss the lone remaining case, brought against David Avignone, who was arrested a few days after Joe.”

The “bubble zone” ordinance prohibits approaching within eight feet of a person without consent “for the purpose of passing a leaflet or handbill to, displaying a sign to, or engaging in oral protest, education, or counseling.” Witnesses and a video of the incident showed Holland standing stationary and praying, but not leafleting, picketing or sidewalk counseling.

Thomas More Society attorneys are also representing David Avignone, the second arrestee under the “bubble zone” ordinance, who was arrested the same week as Holland. Avignone’s first court appearance is August 13 at 1 p.m.

Check out this great video of this morning’s interview on FOX & Friends with Thomas More Society Executive Director Peter Breen and Joe Holland, the grad student arrested for violating Chicago’s “Bubble Zone” ordinance.

Update: Fox news did a follow-up piece on this story that you can read here.

Peter and Joe were also on Moody Radio’s In the Market with Jane Parshall yesterday afternoon. You can hear that interview here. Just click the “Hour 1″ button to hear Peter and Joe’s segment.

Visit ArrestedForPraying.com today and sign their petition urging Chicago mayor Richard Daley to drop all charges against Joe. Read the full story of Joe’s arrest here and read about the huge national media response to the story here.

The story of graduate student Joe Holland, who was the first person arrested under the outrageous Chicago “Bubble Zone” ordinance, has caught the attention of the media. Today, the story made the front page on FoxNews.com! Today’s poll on the Fox News site also centers around Joe’s arrest. Be sure to stop by the site and cast your vote today.

In addition, Joe and TMS attorney Peter Breen will appear on Moody Radio this afternoon at 5:05 Eastern, 4:05 Central to discuss the arrest and the ordinance. Listen live at the Moody Radio Chicago website.

Then tomorrow morning at 5:20 a.m. Central, 6:20 a.m. Eastern, Joe and Peter will be on FOX & Friends, the Fox News morning show.

This is a fantastic opportunity for the public to see how ridiculous the Chicago “Bubble Zone” and its enforcement really are. Be sure to vote in the Fox News poll today, and don’t miss any of this great coverage today and tomorrow.

The “Bubble Zone” ordinance prohibits approaching within eight feet of a person, without consent, “for the purpose of passing a leaflet or handbill to, displaying a sign to, or engaging in oral protest, education, or counseling.” According to witnesses and available video, Holland was engaged solely in prayer activity and not in leafletting, picketing or “sidewalk counseling.” Video of Holland’s alleged disorderly conduct can be viewed here:

“This arrest was about one thing: trying to scare pro-life people away from Planned Parenthood,” said Peter Breen, Thomas More Society executive director and legal counsel. “Joe Holland did nothing wrong – his only ‘crime’ was having the temerity to exercise his First Amendment rights on a public sidewalk. We look forward to defending Joe and others like him against the City of Chicago’s false charges.” During consideration of the new ordinance, Breen presented testimony that the “Bubble Zone” ordinance is unconstitutional, a position with which the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois agreed.

Thomas More Society attorneys today also served subpoenas on Planned Parenthood for security footage of the alleged disorderly conduct and on the City of Chicago for the 911 tapes of the calls placed by Planned Parenthood. The Thomas More Society is also representing David Avignone, the second arrestee under the “Bubble Zone” ordinance. Holland’s next appearance is August 3, and Avignone’s first appearance will be August 30.

Trespass Cases Against the “ND88″
“ND88″ Attorneys Allege “Viewpoint Discrimination” in Criminal Prosecutions

South Bend, Ind.—This week, another pretrial hearing was held in St. Joseph County Criminal Court involving the criminal trespass charges that the University of Notre Dame and the county prosecutor continue to press against the “ND88.” In a key ruling, Chief Judge Michael Scopelitis confirmed that Thomas More Society attorneys may take a deposition of a Notre Dame official, the former Director of Residential Life at the University.

The ND88, a group of pro-life demonstrators including Alan Keyes, Norma McCorvey and Fr. Norman Weslin, were arrested on Notre Dame’s campus in May 2009, while praying the rosary, singing religious hymns and bearing peaceful, prayerful witness to the sanctity of life as part of a demonstration against Notre Dame’s honoring of President Barack Obama during its Commencement exercises.

Tom Dixon, Thomas More Society special counsel and lead defender for the ND88, deposed Notre Dame’s campus security chief last month. The deposition of the former Director of Residential Life, whose job included the direct supervision of the campus police and the protest policies on campus, intends to reveal whether pro-gay rights and anti-military protesters were treated more leniently than the ND88 in the University’s reaction to the different groups’ protesting activities. The court may eventually hear testimony that Notre Dame allegedly engaged in viewpoint discrimination by prosecuting only pro-lifers while allowing others without allegedly requisite written permits to demonstrate without penalty.

ND88 lawyers allege selective enforcement of the trespass law in violation of the defendants’ constitutional rights. Also subject to inquiry are news reports that the former Residential Life Director, known to be a strong pro-lifer, had been fired last month (although it now appears that he remains employed, albeit in another role).

The prosecutor also asked Judge Scopelitis to require that all the defendants return to South Bend for each and every court hearing leading up to their trials, and to try defendants together in groups, although each was named in a separate criminal trespass complaint.

Dixon opposed both of these motions. A ruling on both motions is expected shortly. Additionally, ND88 attorneys were confirmed to renew their request for “global” dismissal of all charges against all the ND88 defendants.

Tom Brejcha, president and chief counsel of Thomas More Society, commented, “We are proud to have engaged Tom Dixon, a Notre Dame alumnus, heroic pro-lifer, and skilled Indiana lawyer, to lead the defense. We also welcome the new lawyers who have joined our ND88 defense team and who will help us take each and every one of these cases through jury trials, if we can’t sooner dispose of them.” Chris Ferrara, Dennis Brenan, and Michael Hirsh from the American Catholic Lawyers Association, have joined the ND88 defense team.

CHICAGO—Today, attorneys from the Thomas More Society, on the eve of seeking emergency injunctive relief in federal court, secured an agreement from the city of West Chicago to allow a pro-life protest to proceed as scheduled tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. in West Chicago, Illinois.

West Chicago officials had notified the Thomas More Society early Thursday that the Pro-Life Action League’s “Face the Truth” Tour protest, which involves people holding abortion signage at busy intersections in various municipalities, would not be permitted to take place Friday morning in that city, due to a new ordinance covering demonstrations and protests. Adopted just this past Tuesday by the city of West Chicago, the ordinance requires would-be demonstrators to apply for a permit at least 90 days prior to a demonstration. The ordinance also allows denial of a permit based on the city administrator’s determination whether he believes a demonstration will negatively affect public “comfort, morals, and welfare.”

After pointing out the various constitutional deficiencies to the attorneys for the city, Thomas More Society attorneys prepared federal court papers to secure an injunction to allow the protest to proceed. Just prior to the initiation of court proceedings, the attorneys for the city agreed to allow the protest and to take a fresh look at the challenged provisions in the West Chicago demonstration permit ordinance in light of objections raised by Thomas More Society attorneys.

“The West Chicago demonstration ordinance illegally restricts core speech protected by our federal Constitution. By agreeing to allow the peaceful pro-life protest tomorrow and to take a fresh look at that ordinance, the officials of West Chicago have wisely recognized the primacy of our sacred free speech rights,” said Peter Breen, Thomas More Society executive director and legal counsel. “Due to the increased legal action being taken against pro-life people around the country, we will continue to oppose ordinances like these to ensure that pro-life individuals can continue to exercise their rights to peacefully speak, pray, and protest.”

Case Documents

• Read the complaint against West Chicago on behalf of the Pro-Life Action League

In August of 2008, pro-life leader Jack Ames was leading a group of pro-lifers in a display of graphic abortion photos along a Maryland highway. After complaints from local citizens, state troopers told Ames he had to leave town, so he moved the display four miles away into a neighboring Bel Air, Maryland.

Overnight Jail Stay and Sexually Invasive Searches

After setting up the display, Ames and his crew were arrested by Bel Air police with no charges stated. The group included minors who were subjected to sexually invasive searches by police while detained.

After hours of mistreatment and an overnight stay for some of the crew, the group was released and filed charges for violations of their 1st Amendment rights and numerous other violations of their freedoms and dignity.

Motions to Dismiss Found Without Ground

State police and Bel Air police both brought motions to dismiss the charges claiming immunity under the Maryland Tort Claims Act, which protects government employees from frivolous lawsuits.

Judge Bennett denied both motions to dismiss citing the fact that the law requires that Plaintiffs’ charges be assumed true if there is any legal theory supporting them according to the facts, and in this case there is very solid ground for such claims.

Stay tuned to the TMS blog for further updates as the case develops.

Further Reading

• Memora Opinion in the Maryland 1st Amendment Case

The occasion? It was the latest Commencement appearance by president Obama, this time at the University of Michigan’s 2010 Commencement.

Perhaps amazingly to some folks, these photos show that such protests can be conducted without arrests, jailing and prosecution of protesters—something that may come as a surprise to those guarding the gates at Notre Dame’s celebrated campus.

Different Situation Last Year

Indeed, at Notre Dame last year, the ND88 were wholly peaceable and indeed prayerful, as many of the Catholic participants were praying the rosary.

Yet they were suddenly stopped and then handcuffed and hauled away to jail, charged with crimes. And now their criminal prosecutions grind on as Notre Dame insists that they be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

Press Release Unclear

Curiously, the University of Notre Dame issued a press release late—very late!—this past Saturday (6 p.m. Pacific Time) purporting to explain and justify its actions.

But the contents of the press release are in apparent contradiction to recent public disclosures that suggest that Notre Dame treats some campus protesters—namely, the pro-lifers—more harshly than it treats others. These disclosures seem to have caught the attention of a good many folks outside of South Bend and far beyond Notre Dame’s campus.

Later this week we’ll be meeting with Notre Dame’s new outside counsel who will be defending its interests in connection with the current discovery proceedings, recently permitted when St. Joseph County Superior Court Chief Judge Scopelitis lifted the stay on discovery, which had been handed down by the prior Judge hearing the case (who had stepped down voluntarily after conflict of interest charges were filed against her, claiming judicial bias).

Discovery Holds Promise

This upcoming discovery will encompass not only requests for documents but formal deposition(s), under oath, of Notre Dame officials concerning their on-campus demonstration policies and the apparent differences in the way they have treated pro-lifers who protested the Obama Commencement last year and Catholic Worker and pro-gay groups who also were said to have violated the on-campus demonstration policies of the University.

Charges were never brought against many of the latter folks, and those that were brought were abruptly dropped before the cases went to court, according to findings of the Sycamore Trust, an alumni group which conducted its own independent investigation of the matter.

Soon the fruits of discovery proceedings already commenced by Thomas More Society special counsel Tom Dixon should cast better light on all these matters as the ND88 cases keep moving toward some sort of resolution.

The Notre Dame press release issued on Saturday did not address these specific findings of differential treatment. Instead, the University’s statement, quoting its president, Fr. John Jenkins, C.S.C., simply and emphatically repeated its claim that all protesters were treated equally. Soon, it seems, the truth will out.

Brejcha Weighs In

Tom Brejcha, Thomas More Society president and chief counsel, a Notre Dame alumnus who helped draft the school’s first honor code back in the mid-Sixties, simply said, “Let the chips fall where they may. It’s a shame that pro-life protesters were permitted to proclaim the sanctity of life last Saturday in Ann Arbor, Michigan, freely and without University interference, when President Obama spoke at the University of Michigan’s Commencement ceremony, where Our Lady’s University ordered them silenced, handcuffed and hauled away to jail a year ago and still insists that they be prosecuted in St. Joseph County Criminal Court.”

News Coverage

• See, Notre Dame, pro-lifers don’t need to be arrested—Barbershop Blog
• ‘ND 88′ claim unfair treatment—South Bend Tribune
• ‘ND 88′ offered program to avoid trial—Notre Dame Observer
• Leniency by Notre Dame Toward Other Protest Groups Not Extended to ND88—Pewsitter.com

Chicago, Ill.—The Thomas More Society announced today that their motion to dismiss filed in St. Joseph County Superior Court has been denied by Judge Scopelitis. In light of the recent death of Linda Schmidt from terminal cancer and the mounting serious health complications and personal challenges experienced by several members of the ND88, the Thomas More Society continues to explore every legal opportunity to bring relief to these peaceful pro-lifers. This includes petitioning the Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C, president of Notre Dame, to request that the charges be dropped.

“We understand Judge Scopelitis’ ruling to have been a strict application of a procedural rule, and we respect that decision. However, he did not rule on the merits of our legal defenses or our constitutional challenges to the validity of the charges. As such, we fully plan on presenting a vigorous defense of these prayerful individuals who bravely stood in defense of the Catholic Church’s pro-life teachings,” said Tom Dixon, lead attorney for the ND88, and a Notre Dame Law alumnus. In denying the motion to dismiss, “Judge Scopelitis confirmed that the evidence related to our defenses is fact-based. It is important to differentiate, though, that this decision does not speak to the merits of our legal defense, which we look forward to presenting after we have had the opportunity to conduct and complete discovery,” Dixon added.

“We are honored to represent these brave Americans, but the speedy dismissal of these charges does not only benefit our clients,” observed Peter Breen, TMS executive director and legal counsel, who is also a Notre Dame alumnus. “In these tough economic times—as we see state, city and personal budgets tested to their limits—such a dismissal would benefit the residents of St. Joseph County and the already-overburdened judiciary. Fr. Jenkins obstinance in refusing to ask that these charges be dropped is saddling St. Joseph County taxpayers with the considerable costs related to this case and unnecessarily bogging down the courts.”